Nice last name addition. Also, as odd as it may sound, the holy symbol made me smile. His association to pegataurs as well seems right, and I'd actually recommend asperii as well.

I particularly want to thank you for this, as I was wanting to introduce these 4 centaur deities in Katashaka after you introduced them to me by referencing the article in dragon #103, but to have them cross racial boundaries to several tauric races (centaurs, ram-like "bariaur-kin" as the Faerunians have named them, Hybsil, Nyaalaku <larger antelope folk than Hybsils>, and Zebrataurs).

Glad you liked it! I think the hybsils and asperii would be drawn to other deities primarily; the asperii would probably be drawn to Eachthighern or Lurue, and hybsils would probably be drawn to the primary Seelie court and Skerrit in general. Zebrataurs would probably be drawn to the four from Dragon 103 more than Skerrit though. :)

Jeff

Well, for the Hybsil, I see them favoring the OTHER centaur gods amongst those four (Naharra the fertility and love goddess, Linroth the goddess of speed, and for the males Brilros god of strength), more than this guy. Also, this is for an area where the Fey courts will hold no sway. Skerrit works as well though, and I do have him listed as an option. I'm also noting in my notes I gave Linroth the portfolio of dancing as well... not sure why, but I'm guessing I'm seeing her as a goddess of courtship/the chase (as a servitor goddess of her mother).

On the asperii though, I gotta admit, I hadn't thought to specifically tie them to THIS deity UNTIL I started reading more about him. Given the asperii's love of riding winter winds and playing in storms, they do seem like the type that may favor this guy. Lurue and Eachthighern would also seem to fit as well (and I'm putting Lurue in the area where this is, but not Eachthighern). But interestingly enough, I could see some druidic asperii, and it could be interesting to develop magic items that they might use in order to enable their spellcasting (perhaps an item that specifically allows asperii to use a telepathic voice to replace verbal components? Somatic components via twitching ears, shaking mane, and nose.... I just got an image of bewitched in my head where she's twitching her nose).

Of the lycanthrope deities, the only benevolent power is Balador, Father Bear to the werebears. He is a protector of wildlands, and a wise and paternal guardian to his followers. While shy, he is a lover of good tales told around a fire over a shared mug of mead.

AuldDragon...are you aware of any of the deities mentioned in this article? I'm not 100% sure what/where it's from but it is from a file I have on Thar and I'm pretty sure I acquired it from Dazzlerdal. Anyway, here it is:

quote:“Very well”, the leucrotta said at last. “You people think we’re animals, don’t you? By now you know that we’re far more. We “leucrotta”, as you call us, do have some unique ways of looking at the world. We see through the eyes of the Pack, and the Pack guides us”.“The Pack?” I asked.“Yes. They are our; what’s your word of it?, our gods”.That the leucrotta are intelligent was a revelation. That they worship a previously unknown pantheon of gods and goddesses was nothing short of unbelievable.According to Olaf, the leucrotta worship a group of archetypal predators known as the Pack. This Pack is led, not surprisingly, by the great leucrotta, Toknana. The Pack ranges across the plains of the Abyss, preying upon the tanar’ri, sending prey animals to deserving leucrotta, and defending the species against its enemies.Toknana is assisted by a number of other archetypal creatures, such as Hruba the Chimera, Ylarria the Red Dragon, and Voal the Hydra. In addition, numerous leucrotta, chosen from the finest and most cunning hunters on Faerűn, also run with Toknana across the Abyss, and are sometimes dispatched to the Prime Material Plane to assist mortal leucrotta if they are threatened or need new tricks to help them deceive and capture prey.The heroic example of Toknana and his Pack, who fear nothing and hunt even the most powerful of prey, form the basis of the leucrotta’s world view.They have been awarded the world as their hunting ground, and those who prove the most dangerous and resourceful (which in the leucrotta’s mind also means “most deceitful”) will be united with Toknana in a land where they can hunt without fear of death or reprisal.

Yep, I'm aware; I drew the other Ogre deities from the same source. :)

I haven't really decided how to handle them yet, in part because from the material, they're clearly not worshiped by any humanoids or other semi-civilized creatures that have religious rites, wrship locations, etc. My inclination is to treat them originally as aspects of Gorellik that have been usurped by Malar, mainly to preserve the dwindling power of Gorellik. Hyenas are believed to have inspired the mythological leucrotta (hence the scientific name Crocotta), and both Gorellik and Toknana are pack leaders. The other beings in the "pack" don't really fit IMO, but other than the dragon, they could be echoes of the Monsters of Legend from one of the Planescape Monstrous Compendium appendices, which are archetypal monsters (sphinxes, hydra, etc.). I wouldn't make the red dragon packmember Ylarria one of the dragon deities, though, since they wouldn't be subservient to a non-draconic god, so worship of them should still be directed in reality to the original power.

I'd probably feel differently if all of the members of the pack were leucrotta who represented different aspects of leucrotta life.

AuldDragon...are you aware of any of the deities mentioned in this article? I'm not 100% sure what/where it's from but it is from a file I have on Thar and I'm pretty sure I acquired it from Dazzlerdal. Anyway, here it is:

quote:“Very well”, the leucrotta said at last. “You people think we’re animals, don’t you? By now you know that we’re far more. We “leucrotta”, as you call us, do have some unique ways of looking at the world. We see through the eyes of the Pack, and the Pack guides us”.“The Pack?” I asked.“Yes. They are our; what’s your word of it?, our gods”.That the leucrotta are intelligent was a revelation. That they worship a previously unknown pantheon of gods and goddesses was nothing short of unbelievable.According to Olaf, the leucrotta worship a group of archetypal predators known as the Pack. This Pack is led, not surprisingly, by the great leucrotta, Toknana. The Pack ranges across the plains of the Abyss, preying upon the tanar’ri, sending prey animals to deserving leucrotta, and defending the species against its enemies.Toknana is assisted by a number of other archetypal creatures, such as Hruba the Chimera, Ylarria the Red Dragon, and Voal the Hydra. In addition, numerous leucrotta, chosen from the finest and most cunning hunters on Faerűn, also run with Toknana across the Abyss, and are sometimes dispatched to the Prime Material Plane to assist mortal leucrotta if they are threatened or need new tricks to help them deceive and capture prey.The heroic example of Toknana and his Pack, who fear nothing and hunt even the most powerful of prey, form the basis of the leucrotta’s world view.They have been awarded the world as their hunting ground, and those who prove the most dangerous and resourceful (which in the leucrotta’s mind also means “most deceitful”) will be united with Toknana in a land where they can hunt without fear of death or reprisal.

Awesome find... I'd go possibly another path and have them not be gods, but rather "primal spirits" of some monster types like a primordial (Kezef the Chaos Hound is a primordial, so is Dendar the Night Serpent). Possibly they were somehow enhanced magically. Maybe they're akin to "vestiges" and what happens is a leucrotta can "bind" Toknana to himself and get some non-standard binder abilities.... but maybe he only binds to leucrotta, etc... and when he does the leucrotta in question grows exceptionally large and dangerous.

The most unusual centaur deity is Chitza-Atlan, an interloping undead deity who is said to guard the passage to the underworld and the afterlife. Little is known of his origins, but he has connections with the lord and lady of the dead, Mictlantecuhtli and Mictanchihuatl, and is known to the Olman peoples of Oerth.

Powerful enough to claim the title of Prince of Demons, Demogorgon is a foul lord of of the Abyss who has achieved true divinity. Favoring the intelligent shallow-water rays known as ixitxachitl, he focuses on domination and the draining of life energy from victims in order to increase his own power.

As Queen of the Foxwomen, Eshebala embodies the same vain and shallow obsession with beauty and material wealth found in that lycanthropic race. She has a decidedly cruel streak as well, and seeks to destroy things and creatures she has n further use for, or that which she cannot acquire.

Given the antics of the most infamous real-life kitsune, would it be accurate to add the Japanese and Vedic pantheons to Eshebala's list of foes? After all, Tamamo-no-Mae menaced Japan, India and China.

Given the antics of the most infamous real-life kitsune, would it be accurate to add the Japanese and Vedic pantheons to Eshebala's list of foes? After all, Tamamo-no-Mae menaced Japan, India and China.

I don't know any references to fox spirits in Hindu mythology, but I definitely could have missed it. If you have a source I'd definitely be interested in reading about it. I didn't list any members of the Japanese pantheon in part because she doesn't really actively do much other than pamper herself and take things for herself. There's not really much conflict there. The reason I added the Celestial Bureaucracy is because her she is disrupting orderly operations by essentially stealing agents who have jobs to do, even if minor.

As Queen of the Foxwomen, Eshebala embodies the same vain and shallow obsession with beauty and material wealth found in that lycanthropic race. She has a decidedly cruel streak as well, and seeks to destroy things and creatures she has n further use for, or that which she cannot acquire.

Jeff

Just wondering, did you make up the layer name? If so, I love it.

Domain Name: 193rd Layer/Vulgarea

My first thoughts (which granted, this isn't a major deity and she may even be dead) were "might she get along with Kiga the Predator". She gets along with Malar... but maybe that's because he's masculine. I was thinking along the lines of "she doesn't like the goddess of weretigresses, Ferrix… but she might get along with a more bloodthirsty cat goddess that she can manipulate through false praise and/or defaming Ferrix".

I like the part about her getting along with Cegilune despite both being Lunar Powers. It might be interesting if Cegilune's trades are to give Eshebala some control over lyncanthropes.

My first thoughts (which granted, this isn't a major deity and she may even be dead) were "might she get along with Kiga the Predator". She gets along with Malar... but maybe that's because he's masculine. I was thinking along the lines of "she doesn't like the goddess of weretigresses, Ferrix… but she might get along with a more bloodthirsty cat goddess that she can manipulate through false praise and/or defaming Ferrix".

She doesn't "get along with" Malar so much as she uses him to get at her brother Daragor. She would have to see something in an alliance/association with Kiga. In general, she is almost completely disinterested in divine politics and other powers, unless she can get a direct personal benefit.

quote:Originally posted by sleyvas

I like the part about her getting along with Cegilune despite both being Lunar Powers. It might be interesting if Cegilune's trades are to give Eshebala some control over lyncanthropes.

Well, specifically Eshebala claims some power over the moon, but doesn't actually have any. It's mostly hubris on her part. Cegilune puts up with it for reasons unknown, but as much as Eshebala sees herself as using Cegilune, it is absolutely the other way around. :)

Given the antics of the most infamous real-life kitsune, would it be accurate to add the Japanese and Vedic pantheons to Eshebala's list of foes? After all, Tamamo-no-Mae menaced Japan, India and China.

I don't know any references to fox spirits in Hindu mythology, but I definitely could have missed it. If you have a source I'd definitely be interested in reading about it. I didn't list any members of the Japanese pantheon in part because she doesn't really actively do much other than pamper herself and take things for herself. There's not really much conflict there. The reason I added the Celestial Bureaucracy is because her she is disrupting orderly operations by essentially stealing agents who have jobs to do, even if minor.

Jeff

In myth, the Tamamo-no-Mae possessed a concubine and corrupted King Zhou of the Shang dynasty, then corrupted an Indian prince, then went back to China, then finally ended up in Japan. She's so infamous that she's known as one of the Three Great Youkai of Japan.

Given the prevalent seduction theme, Eshebala could have ties to the fox.

In myth, the Tamamo-no-Mae possessed a concubine and corrupted King Zhou of the Shang dynasty, then corrupted an Indian prince, then went back to China, then finally ended up in Japan. She's so infamous that she's known as one of the Three Great Youkai of Japan.

Given the prevalent seduction theme, Eshebala could have ties to the fox.

Right, but that's all in the Japanese myth, right, where India essentially serves as "a land far away"? It might be based on some Indian myths, but they're heavily altered. Besides, while werefoxes are inspired by kitsune, they *aren't* kitsune, and Eshebala is an interloper. The closest thing to the fox shape changers in Indian myth are rakshasas, which are already existent in D&D.